Alexander Zverev has blown it. With Jannik Sinner serving a three-month suspension from February until early May, the German could have made up a great deal of ground in the ATP rankings. He failed at every attempt, many of those on his favorite surface, clay.
In fact, not only did Zverev earn points to get closer to Sinner (the point difference is less than in February only because the Italian has dropped points from not playing in tournaments), but he fell to No. 3 as Carlos Alcaraz moved back into No. 2, at least temporarily. Zverev needed some wins in the remaining clay-court events ahead of the French Open in late May.
The good thing for Zverev was that he was playing Ben Shelton in the final of the BMW Open. There was going to be no Easter miracle for the American, though. Zverev made sure of this from the beginning of the match with an early break. He won the first set 6-2, and then started the second set with an early break.
Alexander Zverev defeats Ben Shelton to win the 2025 BMW Open
To be fair to Shelton, his game isn't well-suited for clay. His bombastic serve and powerful forehand translate better to hard courts. If he develops a better volley, he could be a threat to win Wimbledon soon. But he is still a work in progress on clay.
Not that he doesn't work diligently to be better, because he does. Even making the final of the BMW Open is an accomplishment. With his showing in Munich, he will be awarded by moving up two spots to No. 13.
But Zverev is not only the better clay-court player; he played with efficient greatness on Sunday. He landed his first serve and kept Shelton off-balance, and his forehand was working to perfection, often streaming winners down the line. The American was unable to do nearly anything to answer the onslaught.
The German was also playing excessively clean. Midway through the second set, he had twice as many winners as unforced errors, while Shelton had nearly three times as many unforced errors. That is no way to win a tennis match at any level. In the end, Zverev won 6-2 6-4.